Advocates for turning the Northern Valley into something beside a parking lot surrounded by foreclosed houses discovered the proverbial 300 pound gorilla–or should I say: six ton mammoth riding an F-22–on their side of the debate Friday.
Representatives from Nellis Airforce Base were concerned that large scale development in the northern valley could interfere with the many training exercises flying over the area north of Las Vegas.
According to Col. Dave Belote, commander of the 99th Air Base Wing:
"If there would be too much development to fly over, the reason for Nellis would be almost gone," Belote said.
What's more, he said, it would cost the Air Force billions of
dollars to re-create the mock terrorist training camps, airfields and
other targets on the 2.9-million-acre Nellis Air Force Range to the
north, which is vital for training the nation's fighter pilots using
live and heavy munitions.
As it stands, about half of the 40,000 training sorties out of
Nellis fly directly over the so-called Conservation Transfer Area. Such
flights over residential and business developments would pose a safety
hazard. (RJ)
That stuff about a safety hazard is no joke. An A-10 scored a kill on a pick-up truck driving near the base last month when a piece of a bomb fell off the jet. (F-16.net)
Score a big PR point for friends of the Ice Age Park and friends of the bear-claw poppy. They can now claim that if you support heavy development in the north and the Sheep Mountain Parkway, then, well, the terrorists win.
The City of North Las Vegas is beholding to the base in many ways, too, not the least of which is that they're trying to build their shiny new water waste treatment plant on Nellis land. So it will be interesting to see how our city fathers and mothers jump on the issue now.
But probably more important will be the reaction of the newbie Nevada Senate majority leader, Steven Horsford, since the decision to build the parkway will come from folks way above council's pay grade. Can he be persuaded to kill the parkways and support more conservation by a mammoth on an F-22?
I love the mammoth on the F22. When we took the Colonel out, two F-22′s came right over us as if on cue. It was a wonderful field trip and we are honored to have Nellis support of our Conservation efforts.
I also love the mammoth on the F22 and support all that Jill and her organization is doing for us all. Now that our elections are over we need to re-focus on many local issues such as the protection of this area.
All our elected officials both at the local and state level need to continue to hear from us. Our NLV Alliance of HOAs and Concerned Citizens will continue to support the efforts of POTS to protect this area in its entirety for future generations.
Thanks, Richard.